First record of leucism in the giant fruit-eating bat, Artibeus amplus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

ABSTRACT

In bats, there are several reports on pigmentation disorders (albinism, leucism, and melanism), but only thirteen of them deal with leucism in Phyllostomidae. The goal of this paper is to describe leucism in one of the least-known Neotropical frugivorous bat species, Artibeus amplus, in an Andean location of Venezuela. This is the first report for the species, the second for Venezuela, the sixth for the genus Artibeus, and the fourteenth for Phyllostomidae.